


Choices We Make

by Ponddipper



Series: Bespoke Shorts [1]
Category: Kingsman (Movies)
Genre: Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Fluff, Guilt, M/M, Rated T for language
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-03-13
Updated: 2018-03-13
Packaged: 2019-03-31 00:32:10
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,942
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13963425
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Ponddipper/pseuds/Ponddipper
Summary: ‘Harry?’‘Hmm?’ said the older man, not looking up from whatever he was reading on his Kindle, a birthday gift from Eggsy.‘You know my Dad, yeah?’





	Choices We Make

**Author's Note:**

> So this is a new collection of Kingsman Short stories that I will add to as I go. I can't promise they'll be any good, or how long it will be before things get updated but I wanted a place to keep the short ones together. My self imposed limits are under 2000 words and stand alone stories. Lets see how we get on.
> 
> Enjoy!

**Choices We Make**

It was one of those rare yet perfect evenings, so precious in their line of work.  The world was, somewhat, at peace, no paperwork or other urgent matter demanded their attention and the pair of super spies could just relax, indulging in the simple pleasure of being together in the same place for more than a few minutes at a time.

      Eggsy lay sprawled on the sofa, legs draped over Harrys denim clad lap, body snuggled into the gap between the older man and the sofa’s arm.  On his lap JB lay snoring softly and Eggsy stroked the dog’s ears absently as he let his mind wander. 

       It all still seemed unreal.  He never would have believed this life was even possible for him- the nice house, the gorgeous boyfriend, the amazing job.  It just didn’t happen to people like him, dragged up on a shitty council estate in second-hand clothes.  Well, not without turning to crime or winning the lottery.  What might have been different for him if he’d still had his Dad around?  Would he still be the man he had become?

      A sudden thought struck him.

            ‘Harry?’

            ‘Hmm?’ said the older man, not looking up from whatever he was reading on his Kindle, a birthday gift from Eggsy.

            ‘You know my Dad, yeah?’  Eggsy paused when he saw Harry’s whole body stiffen slightly from the corner of his eye.

 

Turning to look at him, Eggsy noted the way the creases at the corners of his eyes were just a bit deeper than normal, his pupils just a bit wider, his posture just that little bit stiffer.  It was clear that the mere mention of the other Unwin to undergo the toughest job interview in the world was enough to rattle the current Arthur of Kingsman.

            ‘S’okay.  S’nothin bad.’ Said Eggsy, grabbing Harry’s free hand and holding it.  ‘I was jus’ wonderin’ ‘bout his dog, s’all.  You know, from his training?  What did he pick?  I don’t ever remember him bringing one home that time he got a leave.’

            ‘Ah.’ Harry said, putting his kindle on the coffee table. His body relaxed but still didn’t quite meet the younger man’s eyes.

Harry was clearly reluctant to talk about it for some reason, piquing Eggsy’s curiosity, making him wonder just what secrets Harry was withholding from him.

            ‘Oh my god, that bad, huh?’  Chuckled Eggsy.  ‘Come on tell me.  Was it …a Chihuahua?  Or a prissy little Poodle?’  Eggsy grinned. 

Everyone had laughed at him for choosing a Pug, though he had thought it was a Bulldog, but there were some breeds that would be far worse to pick.

            ‘No, nothing like that.  In fact,’ sighed Harry, ‘Your father didn’t choose a dog.  That’s why he didn’t bring it home that time.  He was allergic.’

Eggsy’s eyes widened in surprise.  Harry ran a hand through his hair before continuing.

            ‘The first night the pups were in the dorm Lee broke out into terrible hives.  Looked like he’d run naked through a beehive!  Morgana had to sedate him to stop him from scratching himself raw.  She ran a barrage of tests and discovered he was allergic to dog fur.  It was manageable with medication but it was impractical for him to care for a dog.  Morgana insisted he got his own room, which of course Arthur wasn’t happy about but as it was a medical issue she over-ruled him.’

Eggsy could imagine what the stuck up prick had thought about that.

            ‘So he got to skip the dogs test then?  Lucky sod.’

 

Eggsy looked down at the dog asleep on his lap.  He could vividly recall the look on the pug’s face that day in Arthur’s office when the head of Kingsman told him to shoot the dog.  It was a moment that would be forever etched into his memory.  There was no fear in the dogs gaze, no panic, just blank confusion and utter trust in his master.  Even today Eggsy knew if he was asked to choose between shooting his dog or another human being, the dog would always survive.

            ‘Not really.’ Said Harry, regaining the young man’s attention.

            ‘But you said…’

            ‘Jumping to conclusions again, Galahad?  Tsk tsk.’  Harry chided him fondly.  ‘No.  Merlin got him a Tamagotchi instead.’

            ‘A what?’

Eggsy sat up straighter, dislodging the slumbering pooch on his lap who stomped off to the opposite end of the couch in a sulk.

            ‘A Tam-a-got-chi.  Japanese for egg-friend.’  Harry’s eyes lit up suddenly and Eggsy quickly jumped to squash the idea he could see forming in the man’s mind.

            ‘NO Harry!’  He was not going to let him call him _that,_ thank you very much.

Harry wore an exaggerated pout for a few seconds then carried on.

            ‘They were incredibly popular at the time.  It’s basically a little electronic pet that resides in an egg shaped keyring.  It still requires feeding, cleaning and playing with in order to keep it alive but there was no fur to trigger the allergy.  Quite a good idea really.  Of course Merlin adjusted the programming a touch, made things more unpredictable, more interesting.  The plague of dragons was genius.’

Eggsy wasn’t so impressed.

            ‘But what about the test? With the guns?  Ain’t fair to judge shooting a real live animal against a bit of plastic and wire.’

            ‘True.’ Mused Harry.  ‘But technically both were dependent upon their candidate for everything.’

 

Silence stretched between them for several long moments before Eggsy spoke again.

            ‘So, did he pass the test then?’ 

It was the one thing Eggsy had regretted from his training, that he hadn’t realised it was a blank and failed the test, disappointing Harry in the process.

Harry tensed again only this time Eggsy felt as well as saw it, noticed the tiny tremble that ran through the older man.

            ‘No.  He…he never got the chance.’

Harrys hands clenched into fists so tight his knuckles went white.  Eggsy caught sight of the tears that began to well in Harry’s eye before he turned his face away and Eggsy wrapped his arms around the older man, pulling him close, tucking his head protectively under his chin.

            ‘What happened, Harry?’

 

No-one had ever told him the whole story about how his Dad had died, either unaware of or unwilling to share the details of what occurred that day.  Eggsy knew that his Dad had given his life to save Harrys but that was as far as it went.  It hadn’t ever really seemed to matter before, the how and why never going to bring him back to the young man so why dwell on it?  But it was clear that Harry still felt himself responsible somehow and Eggsy just wanted to know why.

            ‘There... there was a mission.’  Harry began, his face cradled against Eggsy’s chest, right over his heart.  ‘It… it was just a simple recon, nothing to indicate any danger.  There were just the two candidates left; James and Lee, so Merlin and I brought them along.  If either were going to make it as a Kingsman then they’d be facing situations like this every day, so we reasoned it would be good training.’

A few tears escaped from Harry’s eye, seeping into the fabric of Eggsy’s t-shirt.  He wouldn’t push, knew Harry needed to do this in his own time.

            ‘The mark, he exchanged something with another man.  We couldn’t follow the mark, had orders not to engage, so we intercepted the second man.  Hoped he would provide some intelligence, but…’  Harry shuddered on an inhale, ‘during the interrogation… he produced a grenade from somewhere.  Under his robes maybe?  I don’t know.  Lee, your father he spotted it first, threw himself on top of the prisoner, used his body to shield the rest of us from the blast.  He… he saved us all.’

Heavy sobs wracked Harry’s body, breath hitching as tears streamed down his face.  Eggsy wondered if Harry had ever really let himself process these emotions before, allowed himself to grieve for his friend.

            ‘I..I was the one who searched him.  I should have seen it!  Should have found it before.  B-But I missed it and he _died_!  Because of me!’  Fresh waves of tears flowed from Harry as Eggsy rubbed soothing circles on his back.

            ‘Harry?’  Eggsy said a few moments later, waiting until the older man had regained some of his control, cupping his cheek and lifting his head towards Eggsy’s own.  ‘Harry.  It wasn’t your fault.’

            ‘But…I…’

            ‘No.’ Eggsy said firmly, locking his gaze onto Harry’s one bloodshot eye.  ‘One thing I learned real quick ‘bout being a Kingsman is you gotta make choices, yeah?  An’ most of the time you gotta choose quick.  There ain’t time to think ‘bout all the outcomes, you just gotta trust your instinct.  You ain’t to blame.  It were my Dads choice to accept your offer of training, yeah?  It were my Dads choice to go through with that training.  _And_ it were my Dads choice to give his life to save yours.  I don’t blame him for what he done and I don’t blame you neither.’

Eggsy gave him a reassuring squeeze.

            ‘Something else I learned ‘bout choices too.  Sometimes the ones what seem like bad choices at the time actually turn out to lead to the best things.’

 

Harry pulled back, doubt plastered clear across his face and Eggsy kissed the deep furrow on his forehead.

            ‘Well look at me.  Lifting Rotties car keys and nicking his car?  Bad choice.  Ramming that Police car?  Bad choice.  But if I hadn’t, I wouldn’t av called in my Dads favour, wouldn’t av had the chance to be a Kingsman.  Trusting you that day was a very _good_ choice.  End result?  You and me.  Best.  Thing.  Ever.’  He punctuated this last statement with more kisses to Harry’s forehead.

            'But if I hadn't missed...' Harry said.

 

Eggsy rolled his eyes fondly, if a little exasperated at Harry, taking his hand and holding it up to his heart.

            ‘I ain’t gonna lie, living with Dean was real shit.  But if it had all been roses I wouldn’t av nicked that car and met you.  And none of that shit got anything to do with you.  Dean weren’t your fault neither.  That leech took enough of my life and I ain’t gonna let him ruin my future.  He’s gone now and I got you and Dais and JB and Merlin and Rox.  I got the people, the _family_ , I choose to have round me, yeah?’

Harry nodded slowly and Eggsy pulled him back into another deep hug.

            ‘What happened, it’s in the past.  Ain’t no point in dwelling in it cos it ain’t gonna change shit.  Just makes you miserable, so what’s the point, huh?  We gotta make my Dad proud of us.  Life’s for living, yeah?  So, let’s live it.’

Eggsy dropped a kiss into Harry’s hair before the older man turned and pressed his forehead against Eggsy’s, awe and pride fighting to shine through on his face.

            ‘What did I ever do to deserve someone as wonderful as you, Gary Unwin?’  He sighed mouth crooked into a small tired smile.

            ‘I ask meself that same question every morning, Bruv, but I ain’t found the answer yet. ‘Eggsy replied.

 

Staring lovingly into each other’s eyes, their lips inched closer towards a gentle kiss, when a loud ‘pfffhttt’ sound erupted from the other end of the sofa along with an eye watering smell.  Both men froze for half a second before dissolving into helpless laughter, tears streaming down their faces until they could barely breathe.

 

THE END

**Author's Note:**

> Well I hoped you all liked that. It's an idea I've been toying with for a while but I wanted to get it written and posted so here we are. Sorry it's so awful. I realised about 95% of the way through that it is very 'tell not show' but I didn't have the heart to go back again and rewrite so I'm afraid it is what it is.
> 
> There may be another work in a similar vein sometime as there was large chunk that I had to cut from this about how Merlin deals with the left over pups, and what happened when one candidate didn't treat his dog as Merlin thought he should....
> 
> I also wondered, whilst writing, that maybe Lee was a candidate at the same time as Harry and got knocked out early on. Having gotten the job, Harry never forgot the young man and proposed him for the next available space. Maybe Lee helped Harry out at the cost of his own place. If anyone wants to use that as a prompt, fee free. I;d be glad to know what happens/ happened.
> 
> As ever all comments are gratefully received and much appreciated. They really do help improve the quality of the work.


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